site.btaCEC Notified About Detention of MP Candidate in Accordance with Election Code

Central Election Commission (CEC) Deputy Chair and Spokesperson Rositsa Mateva reported at a CEC meeting on Thursday a letter-notification from the Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, dated October 3, regarding the detention of a MP candidate for the October 27 early parliamentary elections.

MP Candidates cannot be detained without proper permission from the CEC, except in the case of a serious crime, and the prosecution service confirmed that this is the case, Mateva pointed out. So in compliance with the Election Code, only a notification was sent to the CEC that the MP candidate has been detained, she explained.

On Wednesday evening, a parliamentary candidate of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms was arrested in Sofia for vote buying, his lawyer Yordan Kirov told BTA. The Counter-corruption Commission searched the suspect's home in the Manastirski Livadi neighbourhood, Kirov said. It confiscated documents relevant to another case.

Earlier on Thursday the Movement for Rights (MRF) and Freedoms Chair and top-of-the-list candidate for  the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms coalition in Burgas and Silistra, Dzhevdet Chakarov commented: "We do not have any information regarding the immunity status of Dzheyhan Ibryamov," he added, noting that "the authentic MRF, which participates in the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms coalition" is the focus of repressive actions.